Rapture Holidays
by ADAMalchemist
Summary: *read Becoming One before you read this* Two children in the 'lovely' city of Rapture try and celebrate a holiday during a breaking point in it's history.


**A/N: Happy Holidays, Bioshock fans!**

* * *

Ever since I was little, my mother and father have talked about the month of December.

They taught me how it was a month of rebirth, a month of giving and receiving. A month to hold loved ones, and enemies, close and enjoy the gift of life. They talked about a holiday in which, you brought a tree into your house and decorated it to make it colorful. You sang songs and baked sweets. You wrapped presents to put under your tree in colorful wrapping paper. And, if you were good, an old man by the name Saint Nick would come down your chimney and leave you a present, something you've been wanting all year. If you were bad, Saint Nick would leave you with nothing but coal.

One day, I asked if it was possible to have such a holiday down where we all lived, down in the freezing, Atlantic waters. They told me it couldn't be done.

"Mr. Ryan wouldn't have it. I'm sorry, dear. One day, we might be able to."

Rapture was free of many things; law, God. You could become a super hero with the plasmids that sat in our Gather's Gardens, or even the greatest football player that ever lived with our tonics. You could spike your IQ by the thousands or even control our guardians, the Big Daddies they call them. It was the perfect place to live.

And I would give it away in a second to live on the surface and celebrate the strange holiday.

* * *

"But, we're fine here, Molly. Papa Suchong and Mama Tenenbaum take real good care of us. Why would you _want_ to run away?"

I frowned at my best friend's words as we sat in the play room with the others. "It was just a thought. Think about it, Simon. A tree in your _house_."

"Sounds crazy." Simon said, pushing over the letter blocks he had stacked.

"It's not crazy! It's cool!" I huffed, standing up. "You get presents from this guy called Saint Nick if you were good all year."

My best friend looked up at him, his eyebrow raised. "And if you were bad?" He asked.

I felt my eyes go wide for a second before I looked away, crossing my arms. "Coal. Which is what you'll get."

His face twisted in frustration and confusion. He stood, clearly angry at my comment. "What do you mean I'll get coal? I wasn't bad all year!"

"Yeah, but you stole my cookies the other day. That was a mean thing to do."

I smiled as I watched his face turn red with anger and his mouth flap as he ranted at me about something. I wasn't paying attention to what he was going on about anyway. My mind was focused on what I wanted for the holidays. A doll would be nice or maybe a new dress.

"…if we were caught, we'd be in big trouble! Molly, are you even listening?"

Shaking my thoughts away, I looked at him. "Hm?" I asked.

He shook his head angrily at me. "You weren't listening at all." He muttered and began picking up his letter blocks.

"Simon, think about it. Colorful lights everywhere! Presents under a colorful tree!"

"Oh? And what is the name of the holiday? Do you even remember?"

I scratched my head as I thought. There was a name in the holiday's title, wasn't there? Yes, it started with a C. Smiling, I looked at Simon, saying the name proudly. "Chris Mass."

In response, he raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a regular name." He said.

"No, no, no! It's not! That's the name of the holiday! It's a surface name."

He chuckled and began walking away, muttering something that I couldn't understand. Sighing, I picked up my crayons carefully, hoping that another wouldn't break. Sadly, most of them did. All I had now was black, blue, and orange. What kind of picture could one draw with only those colors? I looked up and saw Simon glancing at me before he left the playroom, holding his toys close to him.

* * *

Rapture was filled with many stores, restaurants, businesses, and venders. Around every corner was a place to eat, sleep, and buy birthday gifts for loved ones. The 'streets' would be buzzing from the moment they opened to even well passed they closed. Thankfully, around every corner was also a Little Sisters vent. It was easy for someone to climb in and go straight to where they slept. Or for a little one to go out into the world.

Simon looked around as he crawled out of the vent, smiling at the lights, the bustling, the smell of food being cooked not to far away.

He smiled as he began walking, listening to people's plans for the New Year. That's right…that was tomorrow, wasn't it?

Woman giggled as they talked about their dates to the New Year's party at the Kashmir Restaurant, the fanciest place in all of Rapture. Anyone who had money and fame went there for the finest dinning and greatest music.

It was the place to be.

Sighing, he clutched his shirt and walked into a store, looking around at what they had to sell. A smile crossed his face as he looked over a box of crayons. It was small and only contained about twelve crayons, but it was perfect. He could imagine now the smile on Molly's face when she opened the gift on Chris Mass, her eyes glittering with glee. It was rare to see such a sight in children where he lived, considering the testing they did on them. His small hand reached for the perfect present, his boney fingers trembling.

"**Hey!**" A deep, loud voice screamed.

Simon quickly took his hand away from the present and looked up, seeing the store clerk's glare.

"You need to pay for that, kid." He said, taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

The boy shook his head and looked down at his shorts, tapping the pockets. "But…I don't have any money. I need it, though." He said, giving a soft, sad face to the clerk.

"Don't have money, don't need it. Scram!" He said, grabbing the broom he kept behind the counter. "Get out'a here!"

Simon shook slightly, tears coming to his eyes. "B-but it's for Chris Mass!" He screamed, his face turning red as the tears ran down his cheeks.

The clerk's arms froze, his face softening. Chris…Mass? Was he talking about _Christmas_? He slowly lowered the broom, remembering back to when he lived on the surface. Going to his grandmother's house during the holidays, decorating the tree, drinking egg nog. He smiled and looked around, picking up the small box of crayons.

"Alright…but you tell no one." He said and handed the present to the young boy.

Simon smiled up at him and nodded, giving his thanks before he left to the vent not to far away from the entrance.

* * *

I sighed as I sat outside of the Kashmir Restaurant, watching as women in elegant dresses and men in dashing tuxedos piled in. They laughed as they told jokes, smoking their cigarettes happily. Loud music shook the floor whenever the door opened but all I was able to do was sit and watch. 'My kind' weren't allowed inside parties of any kind, stores, and any other public place. Which, wasn't fair.

It was lonely watching as other children, normal children with the same skin as me, skip happily into a party that I could never attend. That sight made me realize that it was impossible for someone like me to be normal again.

Even now, I can't remember fully what life was like before all of this. Did I ever go to one of these fabulous parties? Did I ever dress in a silk? If I had at one point, I wish I could remember. Maybe, during this New Year, we'll be allowed into the restaurant and play with the others. Wear masks like the adults did, dance our hearts out to our favorite songs, and, more importantly, just have fun.

The sound of something in the vent I sat on drew me out of my thoughts. I looked up and smiled, seeing a familiar pair of feet heading toward my face. Standing up, I watched as Simon climbed out, a small wrapped box in his pocket.

"What's that?" I asked, looking it over as it poked out.

He looked down at it and smiled slightly, taking it out. "I couldn't find any colored paper like you talked about."

My heart stopped. Was this what I thought it was? My question was confirmed as he took it from his pocket and handed it to me, his usual goofy grin on his face. "Happy Chris Mass." He said happily.

I felt tears sting my dry eyes as I took the small package. Opening it slowly, bright colors came to my view.

A pack of crayons to replace the ones that had broken.

"S-Simon…" I mumbled, smiling happily as I pulled him into a hug. "It's the greatest present in the whole world!"

He laughed and hugged me back, ignoring the music and laughter that played not to far away. "I'm really glad you like it, Molly."

The two of us sat at the foot of the vent, talking and laughing like we were at the party. We talked about what we wanted for the New Year. Simon wanted to play for the Atlas Astros, his favorite team of all time. All I wanted was to go home. Whenever the door opened, we would stand and dance about happily, singing along with the song. The adults and others kids would glance at us and make faces of disapproval. But we didn't care. We were having fun.

The fun seemed to last for what seemed like forever. The dancing, the laughing, everything took over my being. At one point, I had forgotten where I was, what I was, and my name. I was just to busy having the time of my life.

That is, until the Kashmir's doors opened for the last time.

A giant bang, like a bomb went off, shaking the whole area. I screamed as pieces of the inside came flying out along with terrified adults. That's what scared me the most. Adults shouldn't be afraid of anything. They were strong, big, and much older then us kids. If they were scared, then it must have been something really bad.

The sound of people crying and screaming came from the open doors and began to shake my nerves. I jumped when I felt a hand grab my arm and I attempted to push the person away. When I saw it was just Simon, I felt a bit more relieved. That was, until I looked his face over. He, too, was in just as much fright as I was and shoved me up to the hole, helping me into our vent.

"Just crawl!" He shouted and I obeyed.

Without looking back, I forced my numb body to crawl as fast as it could. The sounds of screams began to drown out as I heard the sounds of Simon's crawling and the voice of a calm women from the intercoms echoing into my ears.

_"There has been an incident at the Kashmir Restaurant. Please return to the safety of your homes."_

* * *

**A/N: Eh, something I wrote for the holidays. I am sorry that I only included Christmas. I'm not against any other holiday such as Hanukkah or whatever you may celebrate. Anyway, Happy Whateveryoucelebrate! - ADAM**


End file.
